Looking for Spring

Officially it is the first week of Spring so on Sunday I went looking for the signs. I decided to take my wire compost bin to the garden and see how my little plot fared over the winter.

As you can see it is looking great!

For the most part the leaves pretty much stayed on top of the beds and even the garlic is coming up.

The bark mulch is still looking pretty good and I love the way it looks with bits of acorn in it.

After setting up my composter and checking out what is coming up (mostly flowers) I took a walk to search for more signs of spring. They weren't hard to find.

 Hyacinth popping up in my flower bed

 The swallows have returned in full force!

 And the robins too!

Even the boot has survived!

 One of my favorite garden plots waiting

 Reflections in the water soaked grass. We have had a lot of rain!

The beautiful tree shapes near an abandoned building

Sedum Autumn Joy just waiting to burst open

Moss on a tree branch

Last but not least some wonderful colors!

Small batch canning

Over the past winter I have been thinking of better ways to save and use my harvest.

I used to love to can jellies and jams and at one time I made pickles but I don't get enough of anything to make the large batches that the recipes call for. After doing a bit of research online (I love the internet) I found a blog on canning small amounts. Perfect for me because then I can do it as I go and get a variety of things. It looks like an awesome site.

I was so impressed and I had a book credit to use up so I bought this book and am really looking forward to trying a few of the recipes. One I wish I had last year was for green tomato pickles. I had so many last year that I had to pick green and that would have been a great idea as quite a few went to waste. I'm not sure if I like green tomato pickles but if you don't have to make a huge batch it gives you the opportunity to try it first.

I have a big hiking holiday planned this year in September so I'm not sure how much canning I will be able to do but with any luck I can try a few things out.

I love the way everything looks so beautiful in jars.

Yummy pizza!

This I had to share. It is a lovely pizza that is so easy to make and if you are like me you will start making these pizzas yourself they are so good. You can change it up a bit like I did and add whatever toppings you like. The original recipe again I got off Pinterest and here is the link to the website. It looks like there are other yummy recipes there as well.

I think the trick is to not make it too loaded with sauce. For mine I used whole wheat tortilla shells and to that I added some of my home made pesto sauce (from last years garden) along with some olive oil. I then spooned over a thin coating of pizza sauce, some thin red peppers, capers, sun dried tomatoes (in oil) chopped. After you have added your toppings I put a sprinkling of romano cheese, just cause I like it instead of parmesan and a sprinkle of pizza cheeses. Not too much. You don't want it to be too heavy.

Place pizzas directly on rack in oven that has been preheated to 375˚. Bake for 7-8 minutes. You might want to put a drip pan underneath in case the edges fall a bit.and the cheese drips. Thank you Daydream Kitchen!

Spring is coming...

Well, it has been an interesting winter. I thought we were almost going to get off scot free with no snow but Mother Nature decided to intervene. I can't say I wasn't expecting snow but I was sort of expecting it a bit earlier, like December or January.

I took these shots in February and it was beautiful. Still wet but green. 

So lucky to live near this beautiful walk!

Gate near Bert Flynn Park

Bert Flynn Park

Scarecrows at a deserted community garden

A few weeks later I awoke to this. 

View outside our back patio two weeks ago

It is pretty though but hard to get too excited about gardening when it looks like this. We even had to get out the snow blower!

It has all melted now and I have gathered up leaves from the flower beds in the back and put them in bags to take down to my compost at the community garden when I go. Not sure when that will be as it is very very wet. I haven't been quite as excited about things yet this year but I'm sure it will come. I guess there is too much going on for me at the moment but hopefully things will change and settle down soon.

Spring is coming..... I know it is. I saw my first hummingbird in the yard this week.

A welcome sight!

A couple of weeks ago I opened my mailbox and was greeted by this wonderful 2014 seed catalogue from West Coast Seeds. I felt a thrill of excitement that one feels on a dreary wet, dark day to get this actually delivered to my post box!  It was lovely to get something in print and it is a welcome change from sitting on the computer and trying to go through the new offerings. This is much more fun!

They have a great selection of organic seeds and always nice to peruse the pages and plan the garden for the coming year. I still have quite a few seeds leftover from last year but will of course be purchasing more. It is pretty hard to resist. The nice thing about this catalogue are the tips that they give you for growing here in the West (wet) Coast.

Happy reading!

Swiss Chard Tart

Over the winter I have finally gotten around to looking though some of the recipes that I tried this past summer to make use of my garden produce. Again Pintrest has been a great source of new recipes.

I have really enjoyed the Swiss Chard that I grew this year and plan on growing lots this coming year. The first year I didn't grow it but I have to say I like it better than spinach. The spinach I grew this year bolted and I just didn't get any to speak of. The Chard was awesome. In the spring when I first started picking it I loved just steaming it and eating it like spinach. Being so busy with trying to keep up with all the produce I didn't get much farther than that. Later on the one recipe I did try and love was for a Swiss Chard tart. I actually made it a few times over the summer

The one I made was based on this recipe that I got from Pintrest.  I do sometimes make my own pastry but with working and tending the garden I was just too busy so I bought pre-made pastry and you know, it was fine.  I didn't add as many eggs as the recipe called for (I only added two) and I threw in a spoonful of bisquick to thicken it a bit it. One time I didn't have any plain yogurt so I added sour cream. I also always add more cheese, cheddar in fact to go along with the feta. I am a big fan of sundried tomatoes and they are lovely in this pie. As I have always said everything is better with cheese!

A quick sauté

 Mixing all the ingredients together

 Voila!

Anyway it was very good and it makes great leftovers. I even took it to work for my lunch.

Baked Acorn Squash

I think I have mentioned before that my husband hates most squash with zucchini being the exception. It is odd because he doesn't mind squash soup. The same goes for beets. He hates them as well and maintains that he is allergic but for some reason can eat borscht. I think I smell something fishy....

I loved growing my little acorn squash last year. It was so rewarding to grow and very easy. It did like to spread however, so next year I think I might try and train it to go up instead of out. It meandered onto my garden path so I had to step carefully over it and a wheelbarrow was out of the question.

This year I plan on growing some butternut squash. I think one acorn and one butternut will suffice nicely.  I'm getting off topic as usual and have to mention the recipe that changed my husband's squash hating streak. If only I could find one for beets!

I found this recipe on All Recipes and here is the link. Perhaps it was the cheese, everything tastes better with cheese. It makes a lovely side but is quite filling. I made two but of course we could only eat a half of one each so there were leftovers!

The best thing about acorn squash is that they keep really, really well in a cool location. I still have three stored in my basement and they are still fine. I think I had better use them up soon before they spoil. Now that would be a shame.